A pair of gun-wielding thieves robbed 13 people in a terrifying two-hour rampage before crashing their minivan on their way to continue their spree, police have said.
Carlos Perez, 24, and Alvin Velez, 34, allegedly terrorized the streets of New York on the early hours of Tuesday morning, holding up diners at gunpoint and snatching belongings from shocked bystanders.
Perez reportedly even boasted to police during his arrest, after police found the gun brandished in the robberies in their van’s glove box: ‘In 24 hours, I’ll be out on bail.’
Police said today the pair will be prosecuted by federal authorities and it is unlikely they will be released on bail, despite the city’s lax bail laws which have been slammed as being soft on crime.
Charges against Velez, who was on parole for attempted murder, and Perez, who was on parole for gun offenses, are pending.
A pair of gun-wielding thieves allegedly robbed 13 people in a terrifying two-hour rampage before crashing their minivan on their way to continue their spree, police have said
The spree began in Queens at around 1am on Tuesday, when the pair got out of their white Toyota minivan and targeted two women, New York Daily News reported.
They stole two cell phones and a necklace from them on Alstyne Ave. near 104th St. and made off to continue their night of savagery, police said.
The pair shortly after stopped at the Woodside Motel on Queens Blvd. where they allegedly stole cash and a phone from two shocked pedestrians.
They then drove on to Brooklyn, holding up a man at gunpoint at 1.45am on N. 11th St. and Wythe Ave. in Greenpoint.
Twenty minutes later, Perez and Velez then returned to Queens, pointing their gun at six outdoor diners near 72nd St. and Broadway.
The duo finally went to Manhattan, robbing a food truck worker at Washington Square Park, before stealing a bag from a woman at Seaman Ave. and W. 204th St.
The pair left a trail of crime through the city although none of the victims were hurt, police said.
A manhunt was launched and a police helicopter deployed to find the thieves.
They eventually found the minivan crashed at the side of the road on Cedar Ave. and W. 179th St.
Investigators said the pair would have continued their spree in the Bronx if it were not for the crash.
The pair have multiple arrests and were recently arrested on drugs charges, police said.
Velez was released in November 2021 after a seven-year prison sentence for attempted murder.
In 2013, he was conditionally released by parole for a weapons conviction.
Perez was released on parole in October 2020 after serving a year for weapons charges, records show.
New York’s bail laws have proved controversial, with a string of crimes committed by newly-released offenders.
In November, New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged newly-elected Governor Kathy Hochul to ditch the ‘catch, release, repeat’ bail reforms that are fueling the city’s crime epidemic.
Manhattan’s tourist-packed neighborhoods have increasingly become hotbeds for crime – where brazen thieves are leaving shopkeepers feeling powerless
Hochul inherited the governorship of New York from Andrew Cuomo last year. She was re-elected in the midterms on a narrower-than-expected margin and has been widely panned for her soft stance on crime and bail reform.
The bail reforms implemented in 2019 do away with cash bond in most instances, a progressive idea that has meant many criminals are released back onto the streets within hours of being picked up.
‘This catch, repeat, release system is just destroying the foundation of our country. And that’s why we are losing this election,’ Adams told MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
‘Six out of 10 New Yorkers in the Hispanic and Asian community voted Democrat compared to seven to eight out of 10 last time. We are losing the base black and brown who really believe in those basic things. Public safety, housing, education,’ the former cop said.
‘We cannot talk our way out of this. We have to be real what people are facing on the street.
‘We must return to Albany… too many people in Albany, they have dug in and say, “If we change this small number of offenders and go after them, that we are relinquishing a reform that I advocated for.”
‘To not recalibrate is a big mistake because there are too many people… that are repeated offenders. They have made up their mind that they’re going to be violent in our streets, and the unpredictableness of their behavior is really…’
